Dragonriders Flying to Cinema

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McCaffrey's books to be adapted.

By Paul Davidson

The Dragonriders of Pern, based on a series of science fiction books by Anne McCaffrey, is coming to theaters. Reports surfacing online at Sci Fi Wire and The Hollywood Reporter reveal that Canadian production company Copperheart Entertainment has made a deal that encompasses the entire 19-book saga.

The series began in 1968 with McCaffrey's Dragonflight &#Array; a story about the planet Pern, which would be devastated by toxic thread expelled by its mysterious companion planet every few centuries. To combat the Thread, dragons were raised that could burn the lethal substance and forestall its disastrous contact with Pern. In the book, centuries have passed since the last deadly wave, and few realize that the dragons, which bond telepathically with their riders, must once again be raised up in preparation.

Pern's opportunity for movie adaptation follows plans for a TV series that failed to materialize in 2001. Ronald D. Moore, creator of the new Battlestar Galactica, was set to produce it but saw the project cancelled by the network when he refused to make changes he felt would compromise McCaffrey's story and the elaborate world of Pern.